Railway vehicle with armored front ends



June 27, 1933. S E

RAILWAY VEHICLE WiTH ARMORED FRONT ENDS Filed June 27, 1929 Fig.4.

y mm mzzzfl Patented June 27 1933:

UN TED ivmx rEssMER, or COLOGNE-KALK, GERMANY RAILWAY VEHICLE wirnnmaonnn rnonr; nuns Application filed .Tune 27, 1929, Serial No.

This-invention relates to improvements in railway vehicles of any kind atpresent in use, the front walls or panels of whichare provided or clad with an armor or jacket of strong or special steel. The purpose of this new and particular armor at the frontwalls according to this invention is, to reliably avoid collapsing or telescopingof the cars by reason of railway accidents, especially of head-on or rear-end collisions. In the event of. a rear-end. collision, if the speed is not very high, providing that the cars are not derailed and retain the same. level, the power of resistance of a strong armor will be'suflicient. But if the speed of the train is very high, say50 miles per; hour or even higher,

then in the case of a head-on collision, the

effect of such active forces will be so strong,

that simple armor will "not be of sufliclent protection. The" object of this inventionis to supply this want.

I am aware, hat it is not new, to. provide quence, the increased protection on these cars is made as 'a rigid part of each car, sothat each one is protectedindepen'dently and any 40 specialarmored cars are made superfluous;

It is common practice tocover certain portions of the front ends of railway cars above the main carrying frame with armor plate, as for instance that portion which, accommodates passengers, baggage and the; like. However, such reinforcing and bracing is inadequate for the following reasons If" eac'hcaris provided with an armored front structure or. impactqsurface it must beborne in mind,', that the event of. an

374,037, andin Germany August 2s, 1 928.

accident, especially in the case of derailing, there occur differences in the height of the collid-ingcars, and these are forced upward. Therefore a simple armored front structure gives insufiicient protection, because in the case of a -collision such differences in the height of the cars will be caused by the armored front structure of one'car not hitting the buffer beam and the sole bars of the cars in front but will hit against unprotected parts of it. 7. It is thereforeessential to'pro-' vide an armor for the'underframe and for thefront ends of the car which even in the case of differences in the height of thecars, will avoid collapsing and telescoping.

Accordingto my invention, first of all an armor for the front ends is provided which extendsv downward at least to the wheel axle or therebelow in such a manner that in any case only armor protected parts ofthe cars will push against one another. All sharp and cutting edges are avoided. I

Moreover according" to my invention the armor shall be reinforced and backed up to i such. a degree as to resist also very heavy shocks without collapsing. It would be possibleto back up afront, end armor above the underframe in the side walls and in the roof but this manner of procedure would remain ineffective or the corridor reserved for the passengers would be too limited: Therefore according to invention the open space below the'underframe shall be utilized and in such a manner that all shocks against the armor will always be transferred to the underframeand carried by it. In this manner all shocks, in spite 'of any difi'er-. ences in the height of the cars will be transferred from one u'nderframe directly to the other without endangering the passengers in the compartments. My invention thus has for its object to providea railway vehicle of any kind which is independently armored at its front and back ends, the armor extending downward to or below the/wheel axle, this being reinforcedand backedup especially below the underframe and directly united with it. In the accompanying drawing an example of performing my invention is shown. Fig. 1' is'an elevation of the end part of a railway car one side wall being omitted to show my arrangement. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the underframe of the car.

a is the armored front end of the car, the armorin reaching, as will be seen from Fig.

1, downwards beyond the axle b of the'wheel 0. cl is the underframe of the car. For stiffenlng, reinforcing and backing up the armor a cross bars or transoms 6, 6, e, e are provided incombination with the underframe (Z, and they are placed mainly underneath the .underframe. The transoms e, e, 6', .are fasor other accidental mishap, the bumpers of;

two cars happen to lie one above the other, the bumpers of the following car will be unable to break through the armored wall of the car ahead',;since the bumpers of said car will push against portions of the armored wall a of the elevated following car supported by transoms e, e, e" and which will therefore alford such resistance that further forward movement will be arrested. The bumpers ofthe elevated following car, however, will encounter resistance by the car ahead owing to the transoms 6 which support the armor wall a. Thetransoms 6, itwill be noted, run in a diagonally upward and crosswise direction to the transoms e, e, e, and are likewise fastened in suitable numbers and in spaced relation to eachother, to a cross rail 7L3 (shown in Fig. l but omitted from Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness) and to a profile which runs parallel to'the cross-joints h, 71/, if, and then to the vertical rails g which stiffen and support the armor wall a.

The transoms e, e, 6 may consist of single shown in Fig. 2, makes this truss extremely strong. I

All edges 7 of the armor must be rounded or bevelled, so that no cutting edge results, if one car with its edge 7 pushes against the armor'of another car. Y

This-new front end armor may be applied topassenger cars, baggage vans, locomotives,

ryin'g frame including longitudinal beams.

saidtransoms, being arranged at different heights and serving to support 'thearmor against said cross-bars of the two longitudinal beams of saidcarrying frame.

' 2. In a railway vehicle, amain carrying frame provided withcrossbars, armor walls at both ends of the vehicle extending below the main carrying frame'toa little below the middle of the wheels of the car, a plurality of transoms rising diagonally in parallel relation to each other at'various heights andarranged to-stifl'en and supportthe armor'walls against the cross-bars of the carrying frame,

each transom consisting of two arms which converge at an angle, said arms exertlng a thrust toward the top of the car, the apices of the various angles between the several pairs of arms lying on the same straight line.

8. In a railwayvehicle having a main carrying frame consisting of longitudinal beams connected by cross-bars and armor walls at both ends of the'car, said armor extending below the frame and. a little below themiddle of the vehicle Wheels, a plurality of pressure transoms in parallelism with each other, rise ing diagonally at various heights for supporting and reinforcing the armor, said transoms consisting of pairs of arms connected between the armored endsand various of the cross beams; said arms converging in-pairs both at the cross beams and at their connection with the armored ends so that theapices both at their connection with'the cross beams and with the armored ends lie in the same straight lines. 1

. 4. In a railwayl'vehicle having a maincarryingframe consisting of longitudinally'extending side beams and spaced transverse cross beams connecting the side beams, armored walls at the ends of: the vehicle extending below the frame and somewhat below the axles of the wheels, a plurality of pressure tr-an'somsarranged in pairs and extend ing diagonally in various planes between the armored walls and various of the cross beams; the members of each. pair of transsoms. converging at an angle to each other so as to have a converging thrust lengthwise of the vehicle; the arrangement of the transoms being such that the angles between the converging transoms in various planes have their apiceson the same straight lines. V a

5. In a railway vehicle, the combination of a main underframe; wheels supporting the underfra1ne;an armoratta chedto said frame at each end; said armor extending downward from above the level of the frame to a level below the axle of the wheels; said armor be ing bent rearwardly at its lower end horizontally toward the wheels; said frame comprising longitudinal and cross girders; and spaced groups of struts diagonally arranged to each other; said strutsbeingattached to diagonally arranged to each other in groups at spaced intervals transversely and vertically of the armor; the struts being attached to the girders. I

7. In a railway vehicle, the combination of a main underframe; wheels supporting the underframe; an armor attached to said frame at, each end; said armor extending down-- 1 Ward from above the level of the frame to a level below the axle of the wheels; said armor v being bent rearwardly at its lower end horizontally toward the wheels; said frame com- 8. In a railway vehicle, the combination of a main underframe; wheels supporting the underframe; an armor attached to said frame at each end; said armor extending downward from above thelevel of the frame to a level below the axle of the wheels; said armor'being bent rearwardly at its lower end horizontally toward the wheels; and a plurality of struts extending between and attached to'the underframe and the armor; said struts considered as arranged inpairs converging toward the frame at spaced intervals rearwardly of the armor; and also,

considered in pairs, converging toward their attachment with the armor.

9. In a railway vehicle, the combination of a main underframe; wheels supporting the underframe; an armor attached to said frame at each end; said armor extending downward from above the level of the frame to a level below the axle of the wheels; said armor being bent rearwardly at .its lower end horizontally toward the wheels; and a plurality of struts extending between and attached to the underframe and the armor; said struts considered as arranged in pairs converging toward the frame at spaced in- I tervals rearwardly of the armor; and also, considered in pairs, converging toward their attachment with the armor; said struts being attached to the armor at various heights.

' 10. In a railway vehicle, the combination of an underframe; wheels supportin frame; an armor extending from the frame to a point below the axle of the wheels; said frame comprising longitudinal and 'cross the girders, the cross girders being spaced apart at intervals between the longitudinal girders;'a plurality of struts extending between each cross girder and the armor and attached to the girders in converging groups'and in diagonally arranged parallel'tiers,

11. In a railway vehicle, the combination of an underframe; wheelssupporting the 7 frame; an armor extendingfrom the frame to a point below the axle of the wheels; said frame comprising longitudinal and cross girders, the cross girders being spaced apart at intervals between the longitudinal girders; a plurality of struts extending between each cross irder and the armor and attached to the gir ers in converging groups and in diagonally arranged parallel tiers; said struts being attached to the girders and armor at spaced intervals transversely of the armor. I

12. In a railway vehicle, the combination of an underframe; wheels supporting the frame; an armor extending from the frame to a point below the axle of the wheels; said frame comprising longitudinal and cross girders,'the cross girders being spaced apart at intervals between the longitudinal gird ers; a plurality of struts extending between each cross girder and the armor and attached to the, girders in converging groups and in diagonally arranged parallel tiers; said struts being attached to the girders and armor at spaced intervals transversely and vertically of the armor.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature. I

' MAX TESSMER. 

